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IEC was born out of the frustrations and anxieties that too many families face in  getting proper medical care for their loved ones with IDD. Founded by Dr. Mai  Pham and other healthcare professionals, IEC was created to drive sustainable  change after their own difficult experiences navigating the healthcare  system.

As a physician herself, Mai witnessed firsthand the lack of  education, poor care coordination, and haphazard treatment her own child  received growing up autistic. Mathematically gifted, kind, and highly  observant, her child faced increasing struggles over time due to unreliable  school and clinical support. Mai relates, “We encountered a lot of problems  coordinating services…no one told us what to expect at different stages of  development, and we had clinicians who gave him the right drug for the wrong  reasons at the wrong dose just because they weren’t educated  enough.”

IEC’s founders have led national healthcare transformation efforts  in both public and private sectors. They understand the lack of clinical  education, fragmented coordination among services, and dismissive attitudes  that families often endure. They witnessed the daily barriers caused by a  system ill-equipped to care for the complex needs of those with IDD. But  based on their industry experience, they also saw the promise and potential  when empathetic clinicians, robust training programs, advocates, and  inclusive policies all work together seamlessly.